“Controversial Arizona nonprofit releases name of contributors — more nonprofits”

LA Times: “In a stunning reversal, an obscure Arizona nonprofit at the center of a legal battle over secret political contributions released on Monday morning the identity of its contributors, which it had been fighting tooth and nail to keep secret. But the disclosure did little to shed light on who was behind the $11-million donation to a California campaign fund. The Arizona group, Americans for Responsible Leadership, identified its contributors only as other nonprofits. The money was passed from Americans for Job Security to the Center to Protect Patient Rights to Americans for Responsible Leadership, according to state authorities. From there, the money was sent to a California campaign committee fighting Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax-hike plan, Proposition 30, and pushing a separate ballot measure to curb unions’ political influence, Proposition 32.”

This is a very important fight. California’s disclosure law has been particularly effective in preventing the kind of shell game we see here. It is crucial for California to continue to pursue this case aggressively (kudos all around), otherwise this shell game model would become the norm in CA.

Forthcoming Publications, Recent Articles, and Working Papers

Cheap Speech and What It Has Done (to American Democracy), First Amendment Law Review (forthcoming 2018) (draft available)

The 2016 U.S. Voting Wars: From Bad to Worse, William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal (forthcoming 2018) (draft available)

Essay: Race or Party, Race as Party, or Party All the Time: Three Uneasy Approaches to Conjoined Polarization in Redistricting and Voting Cases, William and Mary Law Review (forthcoming 2018) (draft available)